Chapter 80 - Despair

Back at the battle site, Erik frowned as Astrid dodged his claw at the last moment. 

He naturally wasn't going to hurt her; he just needed to make prolonged physical contact so that Elora could wipe out the sigil controlling her. Since the girl was just standing there, even after he finished the rank-one ghouls, he figured something was going on with her controller and hoped to make use of it.

Unfortunately, his actions had unknowingly harmed the girl's mother in some way, which would surely come back to bite him in the future.

For now, though, he had no idea about any of this.

He refocused on Astrid and thought, 'I suppose whoever is behind her controls has finally woken up. I guess I'll have a fight on my hands after all.'

Astrid now stood in a battle-ready stance, with her claws out, ready to receive him. Erik naturally obliged, and they quickly began trading blows.